Specialist III - Wallach Division of Art, Prints, and Photographs

Specialist III - Wallach Division of Art, Prints, and Photographs

Final date to receive applications: 6 August 2026

Department:
Research Libraries

Employment Type:

Full Time

Location:

Stephen

A. Schwarzman Building

Reporting To:
Madeleine Viljoen

Compensation: $80,145 / year

For more than 125 years, The New York Public Library (NYPL) has been an essential provider of books, information, ideas, and education. With collections numbering more than 56 million items and serving more than 16 million patrons in person each year and millions more online, NYPL’s reach is both local and global. Our mission is to inspire lifelong learning, advance knowledge, and strengthen our communities.

At our world-class research centers–including the Humanities and Social Sciences Research Library at the Stephen

A. Schwarzman Building, the Library for the Performing Arts, and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture–expert staff facilitate the work of our diverse communities, offering inspiring reading rooms, programs, exhibitions, fellowships, and a dynamic range of research services. Their work is supported by dedicated staff on the Collections and Research Services teams. We are proud to be the most public and widely used research library in the world.

The Miriam & Ira

D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints, and Photographs is composed of five collections that represent one of the most significant art and art historical research collections in the country. The Print Collection comprises a wide-ranging collection of close to 300,000 original prints and select drawings, along with illustrated books and artists’ books, that represent the full range of printmaking techniques from the beginnings of the medium into the present and print production around the globe.

The Spencer Collection surveys the illustrated word and book bindings of all periods and all countries and cultures, from medieval manuscripts, Japanese scrolls, and Indian miniatures to monuments in Renaissance printing, illustration, livres d'artistes and contemporary artists’ books.

The Specialist III will support a welcoming and inclusive researcher experience, and play a key role in advancing new ideas for instruction and spearhead collection research related to works held in the Wallach Division, with a focus on the Print and Spencer Collections. The Specialist III will contribute on a regular basis new scholarship for blog posts, research guides and exhibition research under the direction of the Curator for Prints.

• Provide excellent, patron-forward research and reference assistance to patrons in the reading room and remotely
• Assist training other staff on best practice handling of materials
• Serve as department point person for Aeon operations and standards
• Retrieve and serve special collection materials for public service, fellowships, instruction, exhibition support, curricula and other NYPL events and initiatives
• Prepare all print materials for internal movements including loans, digitization, short term displays, conservation and exhibitions and serve as primary liaison with Collection Management to track all movement of objects from the department
• Ensure that movement of works in and out of the Division is documented in the Division’s database of record
• Collaborate with the Curator of Prints to identify collection items requiring conservation treatment and to develop public outreach initiatives, including classes, research newsletters, blog posts, and Lib Guides
• Perform other related duties as assigned

• M.A. in Art History
• Demonstrated knowledge of Art History and Visual Studies through academic background, training, interest or expertise

• Experience providing welcoming and expert public service, reference or customer service in a library or similar setting
• Experience with proper handling and housing/ storage of original art works
• Experience with research authority databases, including institutional catalogs, and primary source material
• Expertise in prints and artists’ books, including technical identification experience
• Ability to…